Blackened Days
by Emma Uchiha
Summary: A Pokémon story based off of the 'creepypasta' story of the Pokémon Cursed Black bootleg cartridge for the GameBoy Color. Warning: contains dark and disturbing themes that may or may not ruin your childhood!
1. Departure

The sun shining brightly in my window woke me. Blinking the remaining sleepiness from my eyes, I looked at the calendar; Friday, February 13th, 1998. Taking my trusty red marker, I X'd out yesterday's date to keep track of the date when I heard my mother's cheery voice call me from downstairs, alerting me that breakfast was ready. I couldn't wait! I loved Mom's cooking!

"Good morning, Dear!" She chirped happily as I bounded down the stairs two at a time. Mother made a soft, disapproving clicking noise at my haste. She often scolded me for not being careful on the steps, despite me running up and down them all the time – never once had I fallen or even scraped my knee (for as much as parents scolded about it, has anyone ever fallen on the stairs?). But that was Mother for you, always the worrywart. "I made your favorite, Cinnabar's Volcano Bakemeat! Eat up quickly, though – Professor Oak, next door, has been looking for you." I rolled my eyes at how she said it. There were like, four houses in Pallet Town, yet she had to add in 'next door'. Technically, Blue's house was next door, anyway, so it was a silly way to word it.

Naturally, though, I rushed through the spicy dish like I hadn't eaten in a month. It was a beautiful day, and I was hoping the Professor was finally going to give me my first Pokémon! I was old enough to become a Trainer now, and he was getting up there in the years now, so perhaps he'd retire and give me one of his awesome rare Pokémon. Stomach filled with butterflies – though, perhaps I should say, Butterfrees – I tossed my plate in the sink in a less-than-gentle fashion and jogged to the door. "Wait!" My mother called, gently grabbing my upper arm and tugging me towards her. Planting a firm kiss on my forehead, she sent me off with a pat on the back and a wide grin on her pretty face.

"Mom… Don't do things like that, it's embarrassing!" I complained, frustrated with her treating me like a child. She just giggled and waved, and I rolled my eyes again. Parents could really be irritating. Then again, maybe it was just a 'mother' thing - I'd never had a father to know what one was like, so I couldn't generalize all parents as bumbling idiots like my mother. Sure, I love her and all, but becoming a Pokémon Trainer and getting away from her for a while didn't seem like all that bad of an idea.

I got to Oak's and, just as I'd hoped, he explained to me and Blue that he planned on giving us Pokémon so we could complete an encyclopedia for him. I was ecstatic, and after quickly browsing the three available creatures, I settled on the friendly-looking Bulbasaur to add as my first battle team member. Blue stepped forward and chose the Charmander; this didn't surprise me, as I was already aware of type advantages and disadvantages, and a Grass-Type like my starter would be weak to his adopted Fire-type. Still, I was confident in my new little pal. We could beat Blue any day, regardless of type differences.

The battle went well, with me winning. My Bulbasaur – who I'd lovingly nicknamed Squishy (which Blue teased me for, but I didn't care) – seemed a little less than attentive and kept glancing behind me, but I figured it was because he was new to battling, as Blue's Charmander did the same thing. I was too excited to find it odd that both of the battlers had been looking behind _me, _though, or else I would've been more concerned. My Rival left with a few choice words, clearly displeased with his loss and being a slight bit of a sore loser. In my heart of hearts, I wished Professor Oak had just chosen me for this journey, and not added that jerk to the two-man lineup of Pokédex-wielding researchers.

Keeping opinions to myself, and bearing in mind what Oak had mentioned about stat-reducing moves being effective when you needed to gain an advantage on your opponent, I wandered out of Pallet Town with a grin on my face. The sun was shining, I had a Pokémon partner, and… I'd forgotten to say goodbye to Mother. Well, I was sure Professor Oak would explain to her what happened, anyway, and by the time I saw her again? Pfft, I'd be too mature and grown up for her to 'ground' me. I never thought I'd regret not saying goodbye…


	2. Arrival of Ghost

The road out of Pallet Town was frustratingly winding. Go around a cliff on the right, go up a bit, go around some trees to the left, go up a bit, trek around a cliff on the right… And then, suddenly, Squishy and I encountered our first Wild Pokémon! I was pretty excited; it was only a measly Pidgey, but it was still my first wild battle! My stomach was fluttering once again, a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth as I launched my starter's PokéBall up into the air with a mighty throw. It opened in a flash of red light to reveal my new faithful companion, and he seemed ready to go – albeit a bit distracted again. I was still convinced he'd become more focused with a bit more training, however.

Surprisingly, Squishy took quite a beating. His Tackle attacks kept missing, likely because he seemed spaced out. The Pidgey did, too, strangely, but it didn't stop the winged creature from scratching and pecking at its opponent with all the strength it packed in that tiny, hollow-boned body it had. My Bulbasaur just seemed to take it, continuously looking back at me with a strangely expressive look, almost as if he was sad – maybe he was a peacekeeping little Bulbasaur, and didn't like to fight. While I really wished I had a partner that could kick some Poké-Tail, the very idea of this seemed so adorable!

However, if this was the case, I had no intentions of forcing him to harm the bird. I took out his PokéBall, fully prepared to pull him out of battle and run away to prevent further harm. I couldn't watch my friend get beaten and scarred by this scrappy pigeon. I lifted it, about to say 'Squishy, return!' and press the button on the front of the capsule, but I didn't get to finish the action. I was halted when I suddenly heard something… In my _head_.

'_It's going to die.'_

What? There was no one around, yet that voice had been very distinct. I heard my Bulbasaur cry out as the Pidgey scratched open the bulbous bud mounted on his back, but I couldn't move a muscle. A creepy voice in my own head was unsettling; I'd pretty much lost track of the world around me. It had to have been my imagination… Yet I couldn't snap out of the frightened daze it had put me in, nor could I shake the chill down my spine, or close my gaping mouth. I was, literally, paralyzed with fear.

'_Fine. Stand there and watch it die, then…'_

This time, I gasped, and I spun around to look behind me. Still I was alone on the route leading out of my hometown. To think I, Red, was going crazy was – well, unthinkable! My whole life I'd been pretty stable, and now I was hearing voices! That was like, the definition of insane! It he was right, Squishy was going to die if I didn't do something, but what was I going to do while I was insane and terrified? How could this be happening to me, and moreover, why couldn't I move?

'_You could always send me out… I can defeat that bird… Just do it… Command me to __**attack**__ it…'_

I didn't trust it, but then again, I had to. "Go! Attack that Pidgey! Squishy, return to your ball!" I finally managed to call out, holding out the red and white capsule as it got sucked back in. The second I saw what took his place, however, my stomach lurched. The back of my throat stung from the bile that rose, and I swallowed hard several times in an attempt to relieve the burn. As I did so, I saw this phantom-like creature move its claw-like hands up and down, and suddenly I began to get tunnel vision, until my vision was totally black. It was as if this… This… _Thing _didn't want me to see what it was doing. I heard the Pidgey make its typical cry again, but much more drawn out, as if it was in pain or something – it must have fainted, the ghost did the job!

Upon the return of my vision, the purplish-black entity hovered in front of me, a disturbing smile on its face. It appeared happy about winning, but where had the Pidgey gone? It seemed to have vanished without a trace. Perhaps this ghost thing had done something to frighten it off – maybe gave it a really scary look, and that's why it blocked out my vision? Maybe it was afraid it would scare me, as well, and that I would therefore reject it and send it away. I needed to stop fabricating my own explanations for things, though. It was as if I was trying to make excuses, as if it, or I, had done something very bad. Naturally this wasn't the case, right? My nerves must just be fried from the sudden appearance of the creature, and its voice in my head. It was certainly unsettling, especially the disappearing act the Pidgey had pulled.

'_I defeated it. Is that not what you wished for?'_

I jumped when its voice rang out in my head again, seeming to echo, as if off the inner walls of my skull. I wasn't sure I could ever get used to that. I had heard of Ghost-Type Pokémon before, but this one seemed strange somehow, more… _sinister_ than your average Pokémon. "Y-yes! Thank you for saving Squishy, er..." I paused for a moment, and then cocked my head inquisitively. Pulling out my Pokédex, I held it up. 'NO DATA: NO POKéMON WITHIN RANGE' flashed in blocky white text on the little screen. It seemed odd, but I figured maybe it was because he was a Ghost-type. Once on television I'd watched a show that said that the presence of Ghost-Type Pokémon can make electronic devices malfunction. No harm done – it could speak to me after all, right? I'd just ask. "What should I call you?"

'_I do not need a name.'_

That was a strange answer. Maybe it thought I was trying to name it. "No, I was going to rename you; I was just asking what your name was. I thought maybe you already had one."

'_I do not __**need **__a name.'_

Its voice was firmer this time, despite it still ignoring my question and having no reason to become angry with me. Though, there must be a reason for it, though, and I would respect that. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'll just call you Ghost, then."

'…'

No protest. I decided to take that as confirmation that it would be okay if I called him such. Taking out one of the PokéBalls Professor Oak's lab assistant had given to me, I prepared to tell it to return, just as I had for my Bulbasaur. Rather than being compliant and getting in the ball, it disappeared before I could even speak. "Ghost? Where did you go?" Getting no response, I sighed; it had seemed irritated with me after it thought I wanted to give it a nickname. Maybe trying to put it inside a PokéBall was the final straw and it decided to leave. What a shame, it seemed like a really strong Pokémon…

…Perhaps it would have been better, though, if he had left right then.


	3. New Partners and a Forest

Feeling a bit of sadness at the sudden disappearance of Ghost, as well as what I expected to be the end of our short-lived companionship, I made my way to Viridian City. I had used a Potion that Professor Oak's lab assistant had given me on Squishy, and he ended up becoming quite a bit stronger, his focus having increased immensely throughout the rest of the battles. With his help I caught a Pidgey, and I named it Bird. I wasn't particularly creative with names – but then, it didn't seem many people were. Most just called their Pokémon as whatever species it was and left it at that. This made me wonder something: what if you didn't know what species a Pokémon was? What would I call Ghost, even if he did come back? If he didn't want a nickname, the least he could have done was….

Wait a second.

Was I…

Was I referring to it as 'he' now?

I knew it was a psychological thing, something about humans automatically relate animals and other creatures to a specific gender by default, but up until that point I'd had no trouble differentiating Ghost as an 'it'. I wasn't sure how to tell what gender it was, anyway. Did ghosts even have genders? What did this mean for me, now that I was thinking of it as a 'he'?

Had I grown attached to something I'd known for so short a time, despite the fact that it hadn't exactly been very friendly? Perhaps it was just an illusion of my mind, created by the fact that wandering the route by my lonesome after spending the entirety of my short life in Pallet Town was a frightening experience. Maybe nothing had been there at all – but if that was the case, what had happened to the Pidgey it defeated?

My mind was whirling. I still wasn't sure exactly what happened, and at this point, I doubted I'd ever have sufficient information to piece together the events that occurred while I was fresh out of my hometown. For now, I gathered up Squishy's PokéBall in my arms as if it were the Bulbasaur itself and meandered over to the Pokémon Center I saw. I knew there would be a nurse inside that would heal him and my new Pidgey up, so I went inside. A redheaded nurse stood behind the desk with a cheery smile on her face; she kind of reminded me of my mother in a way, seeming to be permanently, unfalteringly happy, noticeable even from the first glance you took of the woman.

"Welcome to our Pokémon Center!" She called, still grinning widely. "We can heal your Pokémon to perfect health. Shall we heal your Pokémon?" Blinking out of surprise at how eager she was, I trotted up to her.

"Yes, please. Here are their PokéBalls." I stated plainly, handing her the two bi-colored orbs containing my companions. After the cheerful nurse placed them on a strange machine, they glowed momentarily before the stretcher-esque table dinged five times in a happy tune.

"Thank you for waiting. Your Pokémon are fully healed." She said, bowing slightly after handing them back to me. "We hope to see you again!"

"Thanks…" I said, brows furrowing in confusion. Did she just indirectly say that… She wanted my Pokémon to get hurt again…? I wouldn't dwell on it – her poor choice of words weren't really of any importance, I'm sure she didn't mean anything cruel by the phrase! Did she?

Heading out of the Pokémon Center, I sighed. It looked like the next course of action would be to challenge the Gym Leader here; however, I ended up learning that the Gym Leader wasn't around, and the large building I would've obtained my badge in was locked tight. My only option was to move on, and head through the Viridian Forest. After the incident with Ghost, I didn't want to stay in one place. My legs compelled me to keep going and not to stop, to find a Pokémon that satisfied my craving for one as strong as it had been. I'd lost out on one that probably could've carried me through, at the very least, the first few gyms in Kanto – my ego still felt the sting from the loss.

Somewhat hesitantly, I set foot in Viridian Forest. The darkness was foreboding, since I was used to the sunniness today's Friday morning held. My eyes took a moment to adjust, and I swallowed hard as I heard various insect Pokémon calling out their typical cries, which sounded nothing like the more animal-like Pokémon's. They almost sounded mechanical, like metal was inside their throats. However, I knew I wanted to catch a Weedle or Kakuna; I was once told that Beedrills could be really good Pokémon for those just starting out! To be fair, those giant needles did look pretty frightening – I certainly wouldn't want to be hit with one.

After easily taking down a few Caterpie and Metapods, I saw a Trainer with a long insect net slung over his shoulder crouching in a patch of tall grass. I wanted to catch a Weedle or Kakuna first, though, before I decided to battle anyone else with my team. Squishy had gotten pretty strong by this point, but just the same, better safe than sorry – it'd be embarrassing to lose my very first battle against someone other than Blue! He would never let me live it down, I was sure, if he found out, and being as he seemed to be the center of attention of gossipers and rumor-spreading type people, no doubt someone would pass on the message.

To my surprise, however, rather than the Bug-Type I'd been searching for, I stumbled upon a funny looking mouse, yellow in color with a thunderbolt-shaped tail. Taking out my Pokédex, I realized before the name even came up that it was a Pikachu! My typical determined grin appeared, and I ran my fingertips along the brim of my hat as I tossed Squishy's PokéBall into battle. A few Tackle attacks later, and I was fairly sure it was weak enough to catch. Pulling out an empty bi-colored capsule from my bag, I tossed it towards the creature. It jiggled once as it tried to escape, and then a second time… The third had my muscles tense with anticipation as I waited for the glow that signified it being caught for sure.

Just a second later, success! Pikachu had been caught! I named her Static, getting slightly more creative with my names now. Taking her out long enough to use the last of my Potions on her, I felt prepared to take on the Bug-type catching trainer a bit further up the path. But before I could, I felt a chill down my spine, and I was rendered paralyzed once again by fear. I knew what had happened before I heard its voice.

'_It will never be as strong as I am…'_

Ghost had reappeared.


	4. Mysterious Disappearances

I gulped, unable to do anything but stare straight forward as the semi-familiar Pokémon hovered behind me. Though I couldn't see it (note I'm mentally forcing myself to call the mysterious creature 'it' rather than he, though he did have an inherently masculine voice when he spoke inside my head), the rising hair on the nape of my neck told me it was, indeed, there. Despite the fact that he hadn't been visible, I now realized that, contrary to my earlier beliefs, it had never left my side. I supposed, being a ghost, it must have the ability to consciously make its presence detectable or not.

"Yeah, probably not, but I thought you left me, Ghost." I murmured, my voice sharply cracking as I said its name. A hollow, humorless laugh resounded in my head, causing me to feel as if my brain itself was shaking with fear from the noise. I didn't see any reason to laugh.

'_Oh, I'll __**never**__ leave you.'_

Ever heard that phrase, 'it's not what you say but how you say it'? Something about the stressed syllables in 'never' made me queasy.

"I-Is that so?" Again my voice betrayed my fear. It didn't matter much, though; since he seemed to be telekinetic, or at the very least able to get inside my head, Ghost was probably already aware of my rising fear. It was obvious enough that he frightened me. "Well… I appreciate that. I c-could use your strength on my team." I stated truthfully, though I was honestly unable to tell whether I was happy he'd reappeared, or a little bit upset that I had to deal with how terrifying he was as he loomed over me and talked in my head.

'…'

Ghost didn't reply to my statement, but moved in front of me, the same creepy, ear-to-ear – or, what would be ear-to-ear, if he had any ears – smile on his face as before. My effort-free cardiac workout continued as he circled me once and then stopped behind me again, his chilling silence continuing as I gathered my bearings and tried to get my heart to beat at a normal rate again.

One good thing had come out of all of this; I was most certainly ready to battle that Bug Catcher now! With Ghost on my team, I was likely unstoppable! My chest heaved in a heavy sigh, and I shook my head rapidly for a second to clear my thoughts before marching towards the boy still quietly crouching by a nondescript tree. I could tell he was keeping watch for any Bug Pokémon that might show up, so it was fairly likely he would get angry and agree to a battle if I disturbed his focus – so, naturally, I did.

"Hey there! Let's battle!" I called, despite being quite close as I stood behind the shorter boy. The moment we made eye contact, our next actions were set. It was time for a Trainer Battle. After complaining about me scaring off the Wild Bug-Type Pokémon, he drew a PokéBall and tossed it out. I mirrored the action quickly, sending out my new Pikachu, Static, to try and toughen her up some. The first creature he sent into battle was a Weedle. It used Poison Sting on command, which didn't do much damage, and thankfully didn't poison my Pokémon. My trusty Pikachu tackled it, also doing very little damage. This pattern continued until Static was nearly too weak to fight; I withdrew her and let Bird take over, and the Flying-Type quickly took down the next Pokémon, a Metapod. The third was another Weedle, and partway through the battle I heard the familiar voice I still hadn't become accustomed to.

'_Send me out.'_

It was more of a command than a suggestion! Taken aback by the bluntness of Ghost, I obliged, pointing my finger forward and watching the Weedle begin trembling as I said, "Go on, Ghost, your turn! Return, Bird!" He swapped places with my Pidgey, the PokéBall in my hand sucking Bird back inside itself while my opponent's Pokémon quivered in absolute terror. No matter what command the Bug Trainer gave, it was too scared to move, and Ghost barely waited for my command of 'do your thing' when he blacked out my vision and I heard the pained cry of the horned insect.

Strangely, this time my vision didn't come back immediately afterward. Brows furrowing in confusion, I blinked a few times, though to no avail. What was it doing?

'_There's still an attack to be made. We can leave, or you can tell me to finish this.'_

It was bad etiquette to run from a Trainer Battle; naturally I'd go along. I'd only seen three balls connected to Bug-Boy's belt, but I wouldn't argue. Why would Ghost lie? "Alright, then! Attack, Ghost!" I called, my voice showing my confusion. This time, I didn't hear any Pokémon call – and that was when I realized that I'd never heard one to begin with, when the next Pokémon was supposedly sent out. When I regained my ability to see, the Bug Catcher had disappeared. Huh. What a sore loser. At least he'd left the money for the battle behind.

Picking up the coins off of the ground, I looked over at the floating Ghost. Its ghastly smile seemed even more smug than it typically did – which must have taken some effort! Curiously, I held out my hands, reaching forward as if cupping the strange Pokémon in mid-air as it hovered in front of my face. It moved closer, resting in my cupped palms. "Good job in that battle." I stated softly, wondering where my ghastly companion had come from, and why it had decided to follow me around rather than someone else.

'…'

Gently releasing it, I shot Ghost a smile and a thumbs-up in an attempt to get a positive reaction. Still I saw nothing in those blank, emotionless eyes. Turning away to hide my disappointed frown, I started further down the path. Ghost and I took on several more Trainers, each one running off at the end of the battle just as the previous ones had; the same strange occurrence where Ghost left my vision black until I confirmed a final attack also came with each of the battles.

Though it was strange, I chalked it up to them being children, even younger than I was, being typically childish. They left the money that the loser of a battle was always expected to pay, so there was nothing to really complain about; therefore, for the most part, I kept my mouth shut. Save a few angry mutterings under my breath, the rest of the walk through Viridian Forest was strangely silent. Previously heard insect noises had quieted down to a barely-there hum, and Pidgeys were no longer chirping in the trees. I pressed forward as fast as I could, glad to get out of the eerie woods once I set foot on Route 2.

Our next path was fairly straightforward. More Trainers appeared, more runaways occurred. This was too much, now… Something was wrong, and I could sense it. Was Ghost scaring them off while he kept my eyes blocked? "Ghost! What's going on? Why do they keep running off!" I demanded, stopping dead in my tracks and spinning on my heel to face the following spirit.

'_They are not running off.'_

What? That didn't make any sense, they were gone quickly and yet they weren't running off? "Well where are they going, then?"

'_Blackness.'_

Nausea bubbled in my abdomen, and my thoughts were once again moving faster than my brain could process. What could Ghost possibly mean by that? Was it making them blind, too? Or, perhaps, was he making me blind to them?

I made the mistake of not wanting to chase him off again, and refrained from asking the obvious question: was Ghost the one responsible for whatever was happening to the Trainers? I wasn't prepared to lose him, nor was I mentally strong enough to handle what I believed was the answer. I felt stupid, yes, but I was frightened. What if he did the same thing to me he had done to them? I might be naïve, but I wasn't stupid; positive was an understatement for how sure I was that he was involved.

But I was greedy.

I was selfish.

I wanted Ghost all to myself, and I wanted him to help me complete my Pokédex and one-up my number one rival, Blue. I knew what he'd done, and therefore what I'd done, was wrong, but I didn't care.

Winning was the only thing that mattered.


End file.
